First, I want to thank each and every one of you who helped me start off my spring cleaning by giving me that push to get rid of some items that have been lurking in my closet for way too long.  (Things from high school, over 20 years ago…Wow!)  (Thanks especially to The Dose of Reality, A Happier Girl, Chris Carter of the Mom Cafe, Jacklynn of the MamaMama, Cathi, Susie of Homemaker-Mom, Ginny Marie of Lemon Drop Pie, and Single Mom in the South for your comment help!)

I took the advice from those who commented on that post, and it all got donated.

Not only that, but you helped jump start a HUGE clean out of the closet.  I tried on over 20 pair of dress pants that I haven’t worn since teaching, pulled out sweaters that have seen better days, and even found a blue velvet dress in the way back of the closet that, let’s face it, is never getting worn again.

Well, maybe it will be worn again…  Just not by me!My daughter found the dress, and fell in love with it.  It’s the perfect length for dress up, so it is actually going to stick around, just not on a hanger in my closet.

I also found a black poncho.  Are those things still popular?

When I put it on my daughter, she asked, “What is this, Mommy?  A lampshade?”Got to love it!

All said and done, A LOT of stuff left my closet.  Nine pair of pants, 5 sweaters, various shirts, all the items from my last post, and a couple pair of shorts that were in a storage bag in there.Yes, that is a pair of elastic waist pants there and some plaid ones that my sister said I should only wear if I play golf.  (Another reason I’m thankful to talk to my sister on the phone, she has better fashion sense than I do!)  Oh, and don’t you just love the black and white, silky, paisley blouse?  Yeah….

The final result?  A more organized closet with clothes I might actually wear!

Notice that box on the shelf in the corner?  That has my wedding dress…  Maybe it will be worn again in another 20 or so years….

When’s the last time you went through your closet?

The post Cleaning out the Closet — What Got Donated? first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.

The 7 inches of snow that fell this past Wednesday was gone by Friday.  And as much as I like snow, I am definitely ready for spring!  Time to open up those windows, air out the house, and get some serious decluttering going on!

Are you with me?

Please say yes, because I’m actually asking for your help with this first round.

It’s my closet.

Several times a year I go through and try to get rid of things.  But, honestly, there are items that linger in those back corners that haven’t seen the light of day for a loooooong time that i just can’t seem to get rid of.

Some of them are things I wore back in my days in the classroom, and I keep them in case I go back to teaching one day.  (Hey, I don’t want to have to spend a bunch of money on a whole new wardrobe just for work!)

Here are a few pieces that I pull out every time I go through the closet, and they still linger…  I’m asking you to help me decide, do they stay or do they go?

Ready????

Our first contestant is this floral dress with one of those Mandarin collars.  It used to have these huge shoulder pads (if that tells you anything) that I cut out of it.

The next two are denim dresses.

I have quite a few long skirts and dress pants…probably half of them need to go.  But here’s one skirt that keeps sticking around for some reason…. It is red and blue plaid with a super high waist and I’ve had it since high school.  (Did I mention I have the top that goes to it somewhere still?)Finally there are the suit jackets.

Yes, suit jackets.

When I decided I was going to teach, my mom went crazy and bought half a dozen different suit jackets for me.  I guess she thought they’d make me look more mature.  One of them was blue velvet.  Yes, you read that right.  I passed that along the last time I cleaned out the closet.  We’re down to just these two…

Okay, so there you have it.

Do I keep any of it?  Or does it all get donated somewhere?

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Did you finish all your spring cleaning?

I’m going to admit it,  I didn’t finish everything on my spring cleaning list over the spring.  The weather was just too nice to stay inside, and the basement didn’t get finished, and a few other items were left incomplete.

But, somehow, with the first real bit of rain we’ve had all summer, my itch to get some serious cleaning done returned.

So this week all the rugs made it to the washer, I started getting the utility room organized, and I tidied up the pantry.

Remember last year when I used some diaper boxes to organize the pantry?  They are still doing their job, adding a little extra storage space on those tall shelves.

But, to make it a little easier to see at a glance what staples I need to pick up on a grocery run, I added a little something to the pantry this year.

Easy way to organize the pantry:

I found a small dry-erase board in the dollar section of my beloved Target store.  I used a couple permanent markers to write our canned-good staples on the board (think canned veggies like mixed vegetables, canned meats/beans like tuna fish, etc. )  Then I counted up each and every can and made tally marks with the dry-erase pen for each item.

Now, when we use an item from the pantry we will just erase the tally mark.  When it’s time to go to the grocery store I can easily look at my list and see which staples I need to stock up on.  (This will save me time and money in the long run – if an item’s on sale, I’ll know if I need to stock up on it, or if we already have a good supply at home.)

So simple – I don’t know why I didn’t think about it sooner!

Have a great organizing tip you want to share?

Shared on Mommy Club Link Up

The post Organizing the Pantry first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.

More dishes littering the countertops.

Mountains of laundry blocking the door to the laundry room and falling out of the clothes hamper in the bedroom.

And then there’s all the toys making it impossible to walk a straight line through the living room.

This is the state of our house at the end of the week when my husband is working nights.

Oh, don’t get me wrong.  I do dishes during the week, usually after dinner when he is no longer sleeping and the noise won’t disturb him.  But somehow the dishes seem to multiply on their own, and by the end of the week mini towers of dirty dishes have appeared.

And I catch up all the laundry before the week he works nights, but let’s face it, with 4 people wearing clothes, some who go through more than one (or two) outfits a day, the laundry also seems to get out of hand that week.

(Okay, I admit it, the toys all over the floor are an every day occurrence.)

This week it was a double whammy to me as I looked around the basement before my husband climbed into the bed down there, and I was reminded of the disaster under the stairs.

It seems I always start off doing great with my spring cleaning list, but this one area…  There are a million things I’d rather do than tackle it.

Do you have an area like this around your house?  Something that it’s impossible to gain the motivation to organize?

Me?  I’m hoping that the cleaning fairies will come visit the little fairy house out in the herb garden and decide to sneak in and voila – take away all the mess.

The post Help! Send the Cleaning Fairies! first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.